Anthem (ANTM: NYSE) 2015 Q1 Earnings
Anthem, Inc., formally known as Wellpoint Inc, announced earnings per share of $3.14, beating Wall Street forecasts of $2.69. Anthem closed at $151.07, down 2.04%. While the market has been bearish lately with Anthem, they have beaten estimates in the last four quarters, averaging 9.5% over expectations. The company updated guidance for FY15, expecting more than $9.90 EPS.
President, CEO and Director Joseph R. Swedish announced on the call they ended the first quarter of 2015 with over 38.5 million members, which has increased over 1 million members since the Q4 earnings call of 2014. This membership growth included 429,000 Medicaid members, 371,000 National members, 102,000 Individual members and 82,000 Local Group members.
Revenues for Q1 rose 6.8% year/year to $18.85 billion, which fell short of estimates of $19.28 billion. This was an increase of $1.2 billion over the first quarter of 2014. Swedish noted that this quarter is the first time that Government business accounted for more than half of their consolidated revenues.
Anthem closed on the acquisition of Simply Healthcare, a Medicaid/Medicare company based out of Florida. This acquisition should improve their local market presence in the state and enhance their ability to provide for local communities with Medicare and Medicaid offerings.
